Days Forgotten Chronicle I: Ascension
by MikonEsper
Summary: Quin Anthrolomus, a former SOLDIER and Shinra Executive, aspires to take control of Rufus' crumbling empire in the aftermath of Meteorfall. *Post-game, ignores "Compilation of FF7" works. Rated M for potential language, violence, and adult situations.*


Author's note: Well, nearly 15 years after the inception of the idea, _Days Forgotten_ finally goes public. Of course, there's not much actually written beyond this chapter, but I have countless timelines and notes for a massive epic spanning decades and two generations of the Anthrolomus family. I first began _Days Forgotten _in 1997 as a series of story ideas based around my characters from the days of AOL chat room role-playing. The world I participated in was largely based around Final Fantasy VII, but I was (and still am) a fan of Phantasy Star IV, and thus made my characters have their histories in both worlds. By literal definition, _Days Forgotten_ is a crossover, however the two worlds and their inhabitants never interact beyond my original characters traveling between the two. The series will be split into several separate stories called Chronicles. Chronicles with simply numeric notation (such as this one) will be focused on the Anthrolomus family, where as those with a letter are "side stories" and will be complete fan-fiction (largely to explain how the games' characters have come to interact with my originals, but with no direct mention of them) or focused on lesser original characters. Needless to say, the plots of both games will be spoiled within these stories.

Each Chronicle will be categorized in accordance with whichever universe it takes place in. No individual Chroncile will be a "crossover" beyond minor references to the other universe.

This first chapter of Chronicle I was begun on January 1, 2008 and finally finished on June 29, 2008, with a revision to adjust dates and some info on January 14, 2010. Yeah, I'm slow with things. Don't hold your breath for more.

**Standard disclaimer: I don't own the worlds of Final Fantasy VII or Phantasy Star IV nor any of the characters, places, etc. therein, and all registered trademarks and intellectual property remain that of their respective owners. I have taken some liberties with characters names and histories where the canon doesn't explain, but they still aren't mine. All original characters are the intellectual property of Michael J. Brannan; all rights reserved.**

Enjoy!

[PS - I largely ignore the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII works (Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus) and don't consider it canon. Deal with it.]

**Chapter Zero**

**~Prologue~**

Midgar: the great metropolis of the planet. It was brought to life by the Shinra Power and Electric Company and their Mako-harvesting power reactors. Utilizing a fusion process, Shinra scientists developed a method for extracting the highly charged substance from beneath the planet's surface and transforming it in to electrical current. This revolutionized the world, putting a once-thriving coal mining industry out of commission. Shinra quickly grew to be the world's leading corporation and became so powerful that they stood above governmental entities. Midgar was the site of their headquarters: a seventy story tall structure located at the center of the city. It towered above the land below, as designed by the former president of the company, Jebadiah Shinra, so he could observe all of the land that he ruled. Never content with his supremacy over the world, President Shinra directed the creation of the Department of Science and Research, led by Professor Gast Faremis, to begin developing genetic enhancements for his soldiers.

Gast and his second, Doctor Haseki Hojo, discovered that if humans were showered in raw Mako their strength, vision, and mental acuity would be greatly enhanced. This development led to the foundation of SOLDIER, Shinra's elite military unit. Shortly thereafter, Gast happened upon a monumental discovery: the frozen body of an Ancient, a race of people who could harness the planet's energy. It was called Jenova. While Gast wanted to study Jenova's biochemistry to discover the wonders of a time long since past, President Shinra ordered him to try to harness its power for further enhancing the SOLDIER program. Gast reluctantly continued his research, eager to learn of its secrets. Meanwhile, Doctor Hojo began the Jenova Project and conducts experiments with injecting Jenova's cells into human specimens. After every trial ends in failure, Hojo hypothesizes that the injections may be successful on a developing fetus. He impregnates his assistant, Lucrecia Crescent, and injects the unborn child with quantities of Mako and Jenova DNA. The child is born and quickly transported to the Shinra Headquarters to be observed and tested. He was given the name Sephiroth and told that his mother is Jenova.

As he aged, it became apparent that Sephiroth possessed uncanny abilities and he quickly rose within the ranks of SOLDIER. On what seemed to be a routine investigative mission in Nibelheim, he discovered a facility at the Mako Reactor that housed Jenova and several pods containing half-born beasts. Distraught by the connection between this Jenova and the name of his mother, he hid away in the basement of the Shinra Mansion – where Gast and Hojo had conducted their research – and learned the history of the Ancients as documented by the scientists. Believing what he read, Sephiroth went mad, believing he too was an Ancient, and deemed himself the rightful ruler of the Planet. He ravaged and burned the town to the ground and went to the Reactor to see his mother. He uncovered her body from the machines that held it, and severed Jenova's head. However, as he was about to leave he was confronted by his partner, a SOLDIER named Zack Fair. Sephiroth quickly struck Zack down with his extraordinary abilities, but found himself face to face with a lowly Shinra troop by the name of Cloud Strife. Somehow, Cloud managed to hurl Sephiroth in to the Mako well at the bottom of the reactor, and he was thought to be dead.

However, Sephiroth survived within the Lifestream and concocted a plan to become a god. He would summon Meteor, the most powerful magic in existence, to cause a wound to the planet so as he could absorb its energy in to his own body. Sephiroth was successful; a massive conglomeration of rock and energy was on a direct course for collision. The planet activated its natural defensive system, the WEAPONs, but they attacked human establishments, deeming them a greater threat to the planet. One WEAPON launched an assault on Midgar, in the process decimating the Shinra building and leaving the city in chaos. The red glow of Meteor shone in the sky, traveling ever closer to it's destiny with the planet. As time passed, it became apparent that its target was Midgar itself. Evacuation has begun, with Reeve Tuesti – once the Director of Urban Development for Shinra and the designer of this great city – at the helm.

*****

_[ν]-Era 0008 January 19__th__ (Two days before Meteorfall)  
Sector 5 Lower Level, Midgar, Earth_

Tseng Sueng Kwan, the head of the Turks, stood in front of a building with his hands in his pockets. He stared forlornly at this building, muttering incoherently in his native Wutain language. Streams of red light from Meteor beamed through the cracks in the upper plate, illuminating the roof of this building casting the shadow of a cross upon this man. Hundreds, thousands of people – residents of the slums – stampeded past him on their way to the emergency exit located at the perimeter of the city. One of these people rushing by noticed him, stopped and grabbed his shoulder.

"Tseng? What the hell are you doing here?" shouted Reeve Tuesti. His normally spotless suit had been torn and stained from the evacuation efforts, soot covered his face and his hair was beyond what you would call a mess. "Haven't you heard? We're evacuating the city. C'mon, I need your help with opening the perimeter gate!"

Tseng slowly turned his head to his former superior with a blank stare. A look of confusion overcame his face, and he spoke in a whisper, "Why? There really is no point. How are these people going to get far enough away on foot to escape the blast? You might as well let them live out their last minutes at home with their families." He turned to look back at the steeple of the church, staring directly in to the ray of light from above.

Reeve moved in front of him, and grasped him with both hands. "You may think that, but these people have hope. I have hope. Hope that this is not the end of the world that you have made it out to be; that something will happen and everything will be all right. That Cloud and his people, who are at the Crater trying to stop Sephiroth at this moment, will be able to do something. We all have this hope, Tseng. Who are you to try to take that away from them?" The executive shook his head, and turned to take off in the direction of the stampede.

"Reeve, wait," Tseng spoke, a bit louder, "You're right. I'll help. Just…give me a minute." He stepped closer to the building, and forced the massive doors open. His eyes laid on the flower garden located where a pulpit normally would have been, had the roof not collapsed so many years ago. He smirked. "They're still growing," he said aloud to no one, "Maybe all that babbling about returning to the Lifestream is true…" Tseng turned his head to the hole in the ceiling, and managed to view Meteor directly through a crack in the upper plate. "Aeris, if you're out there, please help us. These people have hope…and I have hope. You managed to escape me so many times, which I thought impossible. So, please, do the impossible one more time…"

His eyes closed for a moment as he lowered his head. A smile crossed his lips, and he turned for the door and sprang into a run and shouted "Reeve, I have your hope; I'm coming!"

*****

Something did happen. Cloud Strife and his companions were able to defeat the final manifestation of Sephiroth in the depths of the Crater. His presence was blocking Holy, the ultimate restorative magic, from escaping and countering the threat of Meteor. Once the great general was defeated, Holy burst forth from the crater and careened towards Midgar. Unfortunately, it was too late; upon contact with Meteor, Holy became corrupted and only served to boost the destructive power that was raining down upon the city. As all seemed lost, rivers of the Lifestream came out of the planet, began assaulting Meteor and managed to neutralize it. The planet had been saved, but Midgar was in ruins.

Though not uninhabitable, hundreds of thousands had perished in the disaster. Those that Reeve had managed to evacuate took up residence in the nearby town of Kalm and their lives returned to normalcy. No one dared venture in to the conglomeration of steel and mortar that had Midgar had become due to the level of Mako radiation. It was unknown if there were any survivors left inside the city itself.

What was known was that Rufus Shinra had not died in the WEAPON attack on the city. Several months after Meteorfall – as the incident came to be known – Rufus and the Turks set up a new headquarters in the fort city of Junon and once again began to exert control over the world. Reeve completely disassociated with his former employer and joined Cloud and his companions in their renewed efforts against the Shinra Company.

The former Director of Urban Development was not the only member of the Shinra Corporation to dissent following the near end of the world. Rufus was able to retain his Turks, the army, and a few members of the Science Department – those that didn't commit suicide after learning that their actions caused the deaths of thousands – but not many more. One such renegade was Quin Anthrolomus: a SOLDIER 1st Class during the Wutain War who retired with honors to an executive position in the Science and Research Department. This man saw himself a visionary and doubted Rufus' ability to rebuild the once great regime that the Company once held. Quin became close friends with Reeve and the Heroes of Meteorfall through assisting in the evacuation and post-crisis efforts, but he quickly became discontent with the purely humanitarian disposition of his new companions. Quin Anthrolomus set out to devise a plan to take control of what remained of the Shinra Corporation, putting in motion a chain of events that would forever change the universe. Journey with me, as those tales are retold.

'


End file.
